When

After 14 years in business, the founders of one of the Big Island’s most iconic “farm to cup” coffee operations have decided it’s time for someone else to take the reins.

The Hilo Coffee Mill

“We’re finally ready to pursue other passions” said Katherine Patton, who started the business with partner Jeanette Baysa back in 2001.

Patton and Baysa, who both held successful careers prior to getting into the coffee business, spent more than a decade developing a 23.86-acre parcel of raw land in Mountain View into a full-scale coffee business, complete with roasting facilities, a certified kitchen and a retail shop along one of the busiest highways in the state of Hawai`i.

The partners estimate there are now more than 6,000 actively producing coffee trees supplying their wholesale, retail and online operations. The pair also provide much-needed roasting services for farms around the island.

Hilo Coffee Mill’s retail shop offers fresh-roasted beans for sale, and a full-service espresso bar which has become a favorite watering hole for locals, and a frequent stop for tour groups and visitors making day trips to Volcanoes National Park. The business was awarded TripAdvisor’s “Certificate of Excellence” award for 2013 and 2014.

Kelly Moran, Principle Broker of Hilo Brokers, Ltd, described the business location as a potential “gold mine.”

“It can take years of effort to get a retail location on Ag land properly permitted along a busy highway”, said Moran, who added “millions of visitors pass through this area, and for the right entrepreneur, there is serious money to be made.”

Hilo Brokers, Ltd currently has the business and surrounding acreage listed for sale at $1,495,000. The operation is being sold “turn-key”, with transitional training provided for new owners.

When asked what their plans are once the business is sold, Baysa responded, “We’d like to pursue other passions, like retirement. The last 13 years have passed by so quickly, we barely even noticed.”